Detainee Tortured, Says U.S. Official  —  Trial Overseer Cites ‘Abusive’ Methods Against 9/11 Suspect  —  The top Bush administration official in charge of deciding whether to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial has concluded that the U.S. military tortured a Saudi national who allegedly planned …

Obama attends conservative dinner party  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  This could ruin their reputation: President-elect Barack Obama Tuesday evening attending a dinner party at the home of conservative columnist George Will, attended by fellow conservatives William Kristol and David Brooks.

Why Israel Can't Make Peace With Hamas  —  IN the summer of 2006, at a moment when Hezbollah rockets were falling virtually without pause on northern Israel, Nizar Rayyan, husband of four, father of 12, scholar of Islam and unblushing executioner, confessed to me one of his frustrations.

BART officer arrested on murder warrant in NY Day shooting  —  (01-14) 00:13 PST Oakland — The BART police officer who fatally shot an unarmed man on an Oakland train platform and then refused to explain his actions to investigators was arrested Tuesday in Nevada on suspicion of murder, authorities said.

Kennedy Fades As New Yorkers Back Cuomo For Senate, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; More Voters Don't Think Kennedy Is Qualified  —  New York State voters have cooled on Caroline Kennedy and more voters now prefer State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo 31 - 24 percent for Hillary Clinton's U.S. Senate seat …

Bin Laden urges jihad against Israel  —  CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden urged Muslims to launch a jihad against Israel and condemned Arab governments as allies of the Jewish state in a new message aimed at harnessing anger in the Mideast over the Gaza offensive.

The Money-Changers  —  As Barack Obama looks back to Franklin Roosevelt's first inaugural address — the only other such address that came smack in the middle of an economic meltdown — I hope he pays special heed to Roosevelt's words on America's bankers, who then as now had plunged the nation into an economic abyss.

Bachmann's sudden transformation  —  Freshman members of Congress are supposed to be quiet, unobtrusive, deferential.  Michele Bachmann must have missed the memo.  —  At her first State of the Union address in 2007, the petite Minnesota GOP congresswoman with the sparkling blue eyes …

Bush Presidency Closes With 34% Approval, 61% Disapproval  —  Three-quarters of Republicans approve of Bush, up slightly from recent months  — USA - Democrats - Government and Politics - Independents - Presidential Job Approval - Republicans - The Presidency - Americas - Northern America

Dems cool on Burris Senate seating  —  Roland Burris will take his seat in the U.S. Senate on Thursday, but he shouldn't expect a warm welcome.  Republicans are ready to portray Burris as a poster child for all that's wrong with the Democratic Party, and Democrats aren't sure that they want to back him if he runs for the seat in 2010.

Obama Should Act Like He Won  —  As we anxiously await the debut of the Obama administration, we hear more and more about the incoming president's “post-partisan” instincts.  He has filled his cabinet with relics of the centrist Clinton years.  He has engaged the evangelical pastor Rick Warren …

Treasury Nominee Accounts for Own Tax Errors  —  Timothy F. Geithner, the man tapped to lead the nation out of the greatest economic crisis in decades — and who would oversee the Internal Revenue Service — trekked to Capitol Hill yesterday to explain to senators how he made almost $43,000 worth of mistakes on his own tax returns.

Poll finds low trust in feds  —  A majority of voters say their confidence in the federal government's ability is falling, according to a new Public Strategies Inc./Politico poll.  —  Sixty-two percent of respondents say their confidence in Washington has decreased over the past 12 months …

Joe the Plumber—Out of His Depth  —  Previously in this space I remarked that PJTV's sending Joe The Plumber to Israel felt like a shark-jumping publicity stunt and it was a risk that could put PJTV's credibility at risk.  —  After watching a few reports , I felt Joe was fine, when he related things as the average Joe that he is.

House In Disorder: Tennessee Democrats Elect Republican Speaker  —  The mood in the hall of the General Assembly Tuesday morning oozed with anxious anticipation.  —  Republicans stood poised to take control of the Tennessee General Assembly for the first time in nearly 140 years.

LaHood Sponsored Millions in Earmarks  —  Transportation Pick Directed Money to Donors  —  The former Republican congressman chosen by President-elect Barack Obama to direct billions in federal highway spending has been an unapologetic advocate of earmarks, a practice Obama now opposes …

Impeach Jay Bybee  —  Why should a suspected war criminal serve as a federal judge?  —  Jay Bybee is currently sitting on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.  As assistant attorney general in President George W. Bush's Justice Department, he was responsible …

Israel Says Hamas Is Damaged, Not Destroyed  —  Israeli men looked to Gaza on Tuesday near the southern city of Sderot.  Journalists along the border saw large numbers of reservists moving into the territory.  More Photos >  —  TEL AVIV — Despite heavy air and ground assaults …